January 1977. While the CIA station chief in Moscow is filling up his car's tank, an unknown person slips a note into the vehicle. In the years that followed, that unknown individual, Adolf Tolkachyov, became one of the West's most valuable spies.

Amid terrifying dangers, Tolkachyov and his handlers organized clandestine meetings at various locations in Moscow, using surveillance cameras, disguises, and secret codes to evade the KGB – even within its own house – until a shocking betrayal exposed them all to danger.

Drawing from – until recently – classified CIA documents and interviews with eyewitnesses and key players, the book The Billion-Dollar Spy is an outstanding achievement in reportage and a gripping, true story of the last years of the Cold War.